Richmond’s Best Dessert Restaurants

For many, dessert is the most important dish of the day. Luckily, finding the perfect treat to satisfy your sweet tooth isn’t a problem when visiting the River City. From cakes and ice cream to designer doughnuts, Richmond offers an incredible range of all-too-tempting treats. Best order dessert first then”¦

Baked Goods

For delicious cakes, the only name you need to know is Shyndigz, a strictly dessert restaurant in Richmond’s West End. The freshly-made cakes are served in gigantic slabs and include flavours such as salted caramel, fresh fruit and the Spotted Cow – an indulgent chocolate and cream cheese layered cake. WPA Bakery offers cakes, pies and other sweets in the heart of the Church Hill neighbourhood.

Cupcakes are also a big deal in Richmond. The cupcake flavours at Frostings took the shop to the finals on Food Network’s “Cupcake Wars,” which only made Richmond crazier for its delicious creations, which include their Irish Hardy Bomb and the Thin Mint. The specials at Carytown Cupcakes change daily, but are always delicious, and Pearl’s Cupcake Shoppe has been serving up signature cupcakes like Mexi Cali Chocolate and Peach Cobbler to appreciative Richmond patrons for a number of years. Sally Bell’s Kitchen ices its cupcakes upside down to get more icing on the sides and Two Sweet Cupcake Boutique, one of the first cupcake boutiques to open in Richmond, is great for fancy cupcakes served in an upscale setting.

Frozen Treats

If you’re in the mood for real, homemade ice cream, head to the Carytown shopping district to sample Bev’s Homemade Ice Cream, which has been making the best ice cream in Richmond since 1998. The flavours change regularly, so there’s always a reason to go. Gelati Celesti also provides handmade ice cream in its two stores, as well as from its roving food truck.

If frozen yogurt is more your thing, you’re in luck. Frozen yogurt has been a growing trend in Richmond for the past few years, with frozen yogurt shops Sweet Frog and Yapple opening up right next door to each other. Yogie’s Yogurt, located closer to Virginia Commonwealth University, offers a similar scene.

Chocolates

Who needs simple chocolate when you can sample the delights of establishments like For the Love of Chocolate? The small sweet shop features handmade chocolates as well as chocolate bars from around the world. Gearharts Chocolates and Chocolates by Kelly, also offer beautiful handcrafted chocolates that make wonderful gifts.

Doughnuts

Mmmmm”¦ doughnuts”¦. Homer Simpson would have a field day in Richmond’s doughnut shops. The national doughnut chain Krispy Kreme has a location in Richmond’s West End, where you can watch the doughnuts being baked and glazed and eat them fresh out of the oven. But there are plenty of other local options too, including Country Style Donuts, which is open 24 hours a day, and Dixie Donuts, which features fresh cake doughnuts with creative flavours like chocolate gingerbread and maple syrup with bacon. The presentation at Sugar Shack Donuts will make your mouth water when you get up to the display case. With flavours like peanut butter and Fruity Pebbles, there’s no way to leave this doughnut shop without getting at least a dozen.

About Andrew Cothern

Andrew Cothern is a media professional in Richmond, Virginia. He has written for a variety of publications and websites in the area, including the Richmond Times-Dispatch, TimesDispatch.com, Style Weekly, Richmond.com, WRIC 8News, inRich.com, Virginia Business, The Richmond Scene, GayRVA, River City Rapids and many others. A certified music nut, Cothern is the founder and editor of RVAPlaylist.com, a music site that focuses on the local music scene in Richmond.